Many local authorities are now grappling with how to implement their own Net Zero targets and climate emergency announcements. These announcements have “upped the ante” in terms of local / regional decarbonisation and, in many cases, the targets are incredibly ambitious, notwithstanding that authorities have quickened the pace of renewable electricity generation on their own estates over the last decade. There will be a vast amount to do. The whole landscape of decarbonisation, both in context of electricity, heat and transport within local authority areas is having to be looked at again.

The article, from which the quote below is taken, refers to solar carports and indeed, these can be an easy win, but it is very important that any authority checks how these sort of projects would fit in their overall strategy.

Time is not on the side of authorities, but we need to avoid the temptation to deploy projects or selecting technology solutions which may hamper wider development or which may become obsolete quickly.  I am not, to be clear, suggesting that solar and solar carports will not stand the test of time but if we are going to get anywhere near hitting Net Zero, any strategy is going to have to build in flexibility for likely behavioural change and emerging technologies in the coming decades.

Right at the moment there is a focus by the local authorities on procuring green energy directly from solar or other renewables onshore projects either owned by themselves or owned by others.  If the project in question is owned by others, obtaining the power will effectively require a “sleeved” or corporate PPA solution. Readers of our blog will know that Burges Salmon has led on these sleeved products from the legal perspective.   While the private sector has been signing up to these PPA's it is fair to say that sleeved PPAs with the public sector have been few and far between.

There are essentially two models that can be used; the back-to-back model and the virtual or synthetic PPA. The synthetic PPA should, on the face of it, be attractive to local authorities looking at multiple projects in quick succession, but much will depend upon specific the needs of the authority including the directness of the relationship it wishes to have with the particular project and of course, the attitude of its members. Sleeved or synthetic PPAs need the cooperation and agreement of not only the generator but the local authority and also the licensed supplier to the local authority. It really helps when putting these arrangements in place to have parties and advisers to those parties, that have implemented  these arrangements before.  Being frank, more parties learning on the job means more wasted time and costs and in our experience, there is inevitably a need for guidance through the process not just for example, on the legal side but also on the practical realities of procuring the power and how it will overlap with the authority’s own energy supply contract.  If you are an authority considering these arrangements or a project that has been approached by a local authority and would like to know more about them get in touch via our website as we do have a guide.

Lastly, beware also of so-called model contracts. They may sound good on paper but in reality,  when you are dealing with different licensed suppliers and the needs of different generators – model contracts can quickly go out of the window and there are some better tips we can give you about ensuring the process is efficient.